


Rain

by DarkNymfa



Series: DP Ficlet Collection [4]
Category: Danny Phantom
Genre: Family, Ficlet, Gen, Identity Reveal
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-02-24
Updated: 2019-02-24
Packaged: 2021-03-03 04:27:44
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,181
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24238801
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DarkNymfa/pseuds/DarkNymfa
Summary: Danny's parents are more perceptive than he thought...
Series: DP Ficlet Collection [4]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1749379
Comments: 4
Kudos: 158





	Rain

**Author's Note:**

> Prompt was "Rain" by phantasmapurple9. I continue to be very bad at ending my fanfics.

The rain had started during the last leg of school. Danny had spent his entire last period glancing out of the window, hoping that the fat droplets would cease to be before he had to travel home.

When the bell finally rung, the downpour had only increased in strength.

He made it all the way to the front doors of the school before he changed his mind. It was coming down _hard_ , and he really didn’t want to walk through it if he could avoid it.

So Danny sought out an empty bathroom, shifted into Phantom, and flew home. He made sure to stay intangible to avoid the rain, all the way to his house.

He landed in an alley right next to the house, making sure that no one was around to see him. Then he morphed back into human form, becoming tangible again as well.

The last few steps back to his house were rushed, and Danny slammed the door shut the moment he stepped through. He grinned to himself, pleased to have mostly avoided the rain. Besides, it’s not like anyone would’ve noticed, anyway. Jazz already knew about his ghost powers, and his parents were always down in the lab.

A crash came from the kitchen, and Danny pushed off of the door to check it out. He barely made it two steps into the living room when his dad emerged, however.

The man was dressed in an eye-searingly orange jumpsuit as usual. Less usual were the soot stains all over his clothing and face. Still _pretty_ usual for Jack Fenton, though.

Before Danny could make his escape, Jack spotted him. He grinned, waving at his son. “Hey Danny-boy! Made it home safe, I see.”

“Uh, yeah,” Danny stammered out in answer, inching towards the stairs. He was pretty sure he could scoot by his dad without the man noticing-

And then his escape was cut off by his mom, who also walked out of the kitchen. She was similarly stained with soot, although less so than his dad.

Before Danny could escape from _her_ path too, his mom had stuck out a hand and ruffled his hair. Maybe she wouldn’t notice?

_Nope_ , she definitely noticed. She pulled back her hand and frowned. Danny wasn’t sure if it was at him.

“I, uh, better get dried off,” he tried with a wan smile. He vaguely pointed to the stairs, hoping to make his escape. He was already trying to think of an excuse, but none stood out to him. The only thing he could think of was that he caught a ride, but none of his friends had licenses (or cars). And while he could’ve, theoretically, caught a ride with Jazz, she would’ve come home _with_ him.

“Hold on.” His mom grabbed him by the upper arm, frown deepening as she noticed that his hoodie was mostly dry as well. She released him almost immediately, but the damage had already been done.

His dad had apparently noticed as well, since the man lumbered closer as well. “Danny, you’re barely wet.”

_Uh oh. Should’ve thought ahead a little better, Fenton._ And he still didn’t have an excuse, either. “Wow, really? It… felt a lot worse?” Bad. Bad attempt. They’re never gonna fall for that.

And they very clearly didn’t, frowning at him with suspicion. Whoops.

“ _Danny_ ,” his mom said, tone chastising. She sounded a lot like Jazz whenever he came home with serious injuries, insisting he didn’t need help. The family resemblance was kind of scary, really. “Explain.”

“I, uh. Can’t.” He shrugged, a sheepish expression his face. And he couldn’t, really. He had no excuses, and it wasn’t like he could tell them the truth. _Yeah, so I kind of flew home intangible so I wouldn’t get wet._ Like his parents would fall for that.

“Why not?” his dad asked, one of his huge hands landing on Danny’s shoulders. He was sure that it was meant to be comforting, but to him it just felt like he was getting pinned down. His expression was difficult to make out, uncertain and hurt and who knew what else.

“I just can’t,” he bit out, attempting to wriggle out of his dad’s grasp. In turn, the fingers dug in just a little deeper. He was vaguely aware of the fact that he was overreacting, panicking-

His mom stepped forward and Danny flinched back, flickering intangible to get out of the pinning grip.

Everyone froze.

For a few moments, nothing happened. Everyone stood still in shock over what just happened. Danny was breathing heavily, trying to stamp down his panic. It was too late. The damage was done. Now he needed to focus to guide it to safer grounds.

“Well,” his dad said, voice wavering and uncertain, the usual bluster lacking. “I guess that that explains how you got home so dry.”

Danny flinched back another step. He couldn’t quite read the expressions on his parents’ faces, but he wasn’t sure that he _wanted_ to.

“But how?” his mom queried, frowning. Her voice was quiet, but in the silence of their living room, it was perfectly audible. “A human can’t use ghost powers, but a ghost… a ghost can’t grow.” Or eat, or breathe, or any of the things Danny did regularly. Or so his parents thought. They didn’t need to know that many ghosts _could_ do those things, but just _chose_ not to.

Danny looked away, wrapping his arms around himself. He had considered telling his parents many times, but he always… he always planned on having backup. Sam, Tucker… Jazz, at least. But now… Now he was alone.

“Unless he’s both, somehow.” Jack was frowning too, now. But his expression was more one of thought, rather than the anger Danny had been expecting. “Are you, Danny-boy?”

The nickname caught his attention, and he looked back at his parents. “Huh?” he asked, a little stupidly.

“You’re not ghost _or_ human, are you?” His dad’s gaze was expectant, but… surprisingly supportive.

“Uh, no.” Danny grimaced, but let his arms hang by his sides again. “I’m… 50/50. A halfa, the ghosts call me.”

“Incredible,” his mom whispered, eyes growing wide. She stepped forward but stopped when she saw Danny flinch away again. “It defies all science…” And then the implications struck her, and she gasped. “But _how…_?”

He shrugged, loosely. “The, uh. The accident with the Portal, in freshman year.” Then his eyes grew wide, and he raised his hands up in a calming gesture. “But it’s not your fault! _I_ went to check it out, _I_ was an idiot. _I_ got myself hurt.”

“And that’s why you’re supposed to wear a hazmat suit in the lab, sweetie.” His mom was now slowly approaching him, hoping not to startle him into flinching away again. Her tone was chastising, but soft. Kind.

“But I _did_ ,” Danny mumbled quietly. Not quiet enough, apparently, based on the quirked eyebrow his mom gave him.

“What did you say, honey?” she asked.

“Nothing.”

He would tell them about Phantom later. This afternoon had been trying enough already.


End file.
